Interpretations of Underdevelopment in Brazil Page 1 of 21 35,17(' )520 WKH 2;)25' 5(6($5&+ (1&<&/23(',$ /$7,1 $0(5,&$1 +,6725< R[IRUGUHFRPODWLQDPHULFDQKLVWRo ry). (c) Oxford University Press USA, 2020. All Rights Reserved. Personal use only; commercial use is strictly prohibited (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice). Subscriber: OUP-Reference Gratis Access; date: 01 April 2020 Subject: History of Brazil, Intellectual History Online Publication Date: Mar 2020 DOI: 10.1093/acrefore/9780199366439.013.866 Interpretations of Underdevelopment in Brazil Carlos Brandão and Hipólita Siqueira Summary and Keywords Brazil is a vast and highly complex country that is subordinated to its central hegemonic SROHV DQG WKDW FRPELQHV ERWK EDFNZDUGQHVV PRGHUQLW\ SURJUHVV LQWHUUXSWHG E\ XQILQo ished cycles of growth, and extreme inequality. Paradoxically, it is on the one hand ranked among the nine most advanced capitalist countries in the world and, on the other, listed as one of the nine countries with the worst income distribution. Attempts to interpret WKHVH GLOHPPDV KLVWRULFDO GLVMXQFWLYHV DQG LPSDVVHV KDYH SURGXFHG D SOHWKRUD RI RULJLo nal intellectual work that deals with the specificities of this most dynamic and yet highly contradictory national space. A select few authors have produced extensive work on the subject and have legitimized themselves as the pinnacle of classical interpreters of Brazilian social and political thought. The originality, broad scope of analysis, and ingenuity of these great national thinkers have made them the authors of choice for those seeking to better understand Brazil as a nation. Their classics have formulated key and critical questions relating to the often-interrupted construction of this nation and the truncated, material, and spiritual RU LPPDWHULDO GHYHORSPHQW RI WKH %UD]LOLDQ FLYLOL]DWLRQ DV D ZKROH ZKLFK EHJDQ DV D IRUo PHU 3RUWXJXHVH FRORQ\ IRXQGHG RQ VODYH ODERU 7KHVH DUH YHU\ FRPSUHKHQVLYH IRUPXODo tions, with a long-term historical perspective produced by those who have taken a very SURIRXQG DQG KLJKO\ VWUXFWXUDO ORRN DW %UD]LO VKHGGLQJ OLJKW RQ DVSHFWV RI LWV KLWKHUWRREo scure or unquestioned reality, enlightening and inviting to think more coherently, boldly, and consequently about its present and, indeed, future. Among the main contributors are the likes of Caio Prado Júnior, Celso Furtado, Fernando +HQULTXH &DUGRVR DQG )ORUHVWDQ )HUQDQGHV ZKR KDYH GHYHORSHG DSSURDFKHV WR KHOS XQo veil the nature and characteristics of the processes of dependence and underdevelopment WKDW DUH VR VSHFLILF WR %UD]LOއV SHULSKHUDO FDSLWDOLVP Keywords: Brazilian social and political thought, interpretations, Brazilian interpreters, Brazil, nation, XQGHUGHYHOo opment, periphery, national development, dependency